Irlam Trophy success for lady captain

THE 45th staging of the prestigious Irlam Trophy at Weston Golf Club saw ladies’ captain Di Walker and husband Tony take the honours.

The trophy, originally presented by George Irlam, is a foursomes event for husband and wife couples.

Favourites, Ian and Pam Hudson were going along nicely until Ian sliced out of bounds on the 15th, which ended there challenge.

The eventual winners were lady captain Di Walker and her husband Tony, who made the most of their stroke allowance. Both played steadily, accumulating points but it was Di’s putting which made the difference and they took the trophy with 39 points.

Finishing with 38 points were Katrina and Harry Thomas, whose round included the first-ever hole-in-one in the history of the trophy. It was Katrina who aced the tricky third hole with a fortunate bounce off a bank, having been advised on club selection by husband Harry.

The prize giving and presentation was hosted by Sally Irlam, with help from president John Poole.

It has been a fantastic summer for long-standing lady member Joan Jenkinson. Playing off a current handicap of 11, Joan has already accumulated four trophies after some excellent performances and scores this summer, including the Brockenshaw Bowl, Lillington Bowl, Ruth Alford Cup and the Sally Irlam Salver. Joan has also made a fine contribution to Weston’s Rogers Cup team that was knocked out of the competition by Wheathill at the semi-final stage.

Di Walker, Tony Walker, Sally Irlam and Katrina Thomas.

FIRST team captain Chris Davidson, won the Centenary Trophy at Worlebury.

Playing off four, he recorded a brilliant two under par round of 68 (nett 64) to pip Phillipe Vibert on countback. Denis Thompson came third with a nett 66.

This prestigious trophy, first contested in 2008 to mark the club’s centenary, adds to Chris’s formidable haul this season, having also won the club championship and the Jubilee Cup. Chris is only in his second season at Worlebury, but has quickly made his mark.

The seniors had a good turnout for their summer Stableford. Brian Eleanor won the Division 1 with an impressive 40 points, beating Ron Jamieson by two. There was a welcome return to the podium for Wally Hartree, who came third with 36.

It was a tight finish in Divison 2 with former captain, John Taylor, taking first place on countback from Frank Woolman, both scoring 38 points. Fred Spearing came third with 35.

Popular, long-standing member Barry Newson, in the twilight of a long golfing career, is having a purple patch. After a fine performance in the club medal, he followed it up the day after with a nett 60 to win the seniors’ Bernard Oldfield Salver at a canter. Second was Tom Lennon with a nett 67, beating Henri Josling on countback.

The Stragglers travelled to Minehead for the second leg of their annual competition against Minehead Warreners. With a 5.5 to 0.5 lead from the first leg, Worlebury had virtually an unassailable lead.

Under a blue sky with gentle winds and recently cut rough, the course was a joy to play, resulting in good scores and some tight matches. Worlebury won 3.5-2.5 to comfortably retain the trophy.

Chris Davidson being presented with the impressive Centenary Trophy by Worlebury captain, Keith Wharton.

IT was a quieter than usual week at Wedmore Golf Club, but still plenty of interest going on.

The seniors played two matches during the week, starting with a comfortable 6-1 win at home to Knowle, with only the captain, Paul Burkhill’s pair suffering defeat.

However, he fought back with a good win in partnership with Steve Heal at Clevedon. This was not enough to prevent the team going down 4.5-3.5 which represents quite an achievement against what is always a tough team to beat on their own course.

Those players not involved in the matches played their own alternative Stableford which produced some excellent scores. None were better than David Hollingdale who scored 43 points.

This put him two points clear of Tony Glover with Bob Jackson a further point back in third.

Stableford was also the format for the ladies’ competition and again there was some fine scoring. The best scores were in bronze division where Maggs Willetts led the way with 41 points.

This was just one point better than Hazel Gough, with Di Miller a further point back in third place.

There was a very close finish in the silver division. In the end, a failure to score points on the 17th hole cost Carol Jackson first place as Cathy Olive came through to win on countback after both had finished with 38 points. Eunice Bond was third on 36 points.

Cathy Olive, winner of silver division at Wedmore.

NIGEL totalled an impressive 46 points to win the Super Series Stableford at Brean by three shots from club champion Dan Broom.

Broom’s card of 43 points was helped by a rare eagle two at the tricky par four 13th. Third place went to Trevor Pitt on 42.

Also played on the same day was the Jubilee Plate, which is a mixed greensomes competition. Again another superb score won this with 47 points being posted by Tony Roper and Annie Williams, a healthy winning margin of nine points over Ken and Sheila Rouse.

It was Texas scramble time on Sunday as the Margaret Copp Chalice was up for grabs. It was a close run result with three teams ending up with scores in the 58s.

Leading the way with a nett score of 58.1 were Jim McLauchlan, Pete Dunn, Mike Porter and Chris Payne as they ended 0.2 better off than the runners-up quartet.

They were made up of Dave and Eric Jones, Kevin Davies and Tony Higgins. Third place went to Dave Bradley, Stewart Garrett, Roger Vaughan and Nigel Ellis on 58.4.

The Division 6 Avalon side suffered a home defeat at the hands of Wells. They went down by 3.5 games to 1.5 against a strong visiting team and definite promotion contenders.

It was a different story for the seniors though, as they returned to winning ways with a comprehensive 5-1 victory over their Windwhistle counterparts at home.

Stuart Wills and Mike Smith were the only players to play below their handicaps in the August monthly medal. Smith had the lowest nett score of the entire field with a superb 66 to take the medal for the Division 3 players.

Wills was amongst the later starters and recorded both the lowest gross (76) and nett score (69) in Division 1. Andy Thomas was second on 72, one stroke ahead of Dan Broom. Division 2 saw the closer finish of the day as Jim Puddy beat Mats Mattsson on countback after they had both handed in nett 72s.

Assistant pro Roy Baker did not fare as well as he had hoped in the Powerade National Assistants Championship at Coventry. Playing in the event for the first time, he got to know the trees around the course well and missed the 36-hole cut.